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The Tradition of the Elders

7

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him,2they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them.3(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders;4and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.)5So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?”6He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

7

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

9 Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition!10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’11But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God)—12then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother,13thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand:15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable.18He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile,19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.)20And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles.21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder,22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly.23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman’s Faith

24 From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice,25but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet.26Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.27He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”28But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”29Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.”30So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Jesus Cures a Deaf Man

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis.32They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him.33He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue.34Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.”35And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.36Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.37They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Traditions of the Elders; The Worst
Defilement from Within.

1 Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and
certain of the scribes, which came from Jerusalem. 2 And
when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is
to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault. 3 For the
Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands
oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 4 And
when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat
not. And many other things there be, which they have received to
hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and
of tables. 5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why
walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders,
but eat bread with unwashen hands? 6 He answered and said
unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is
written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For
laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men,
as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like
things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject
the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso
curseth father or mother, let him die the death: 11 But ye
say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be
profited by me; he shall be free. 12 And ye suffer
him no more to do ought for his father or his mother; 13
Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which
ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. 14 And
when he had called all the people unto him, he said unto
them, Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand:
15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into
him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are
they that defile the man. 16 If any man have ears to hear,
let him hear. 17 And when he was entered into the house from
the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable.
18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do
ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into
the man, it cannot defile him; 19 Because it entereth
not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the
draught, purging all meats? 20 And he said, That which
cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from
within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness,
deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness:
23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the
man.

One great design of Christ's coming, was,
to set aside the ceremonial law which God made, and to put an end
to it; to make way for which he begins with the ceremonial law
which men had made, and added to the law of God's making, and
discharges his disciples from the obligation of that; which here he
doth fully, upon occasion of the offence which the Pharisees took
at them for the violation of it. These Pharisees and scribes with
whom he had this argument, are said to come from Jerusalem
down to Galilee—fourscore or a hundred miles, to pick quarrels
with our Saviour there, where they supposed him to have the
greatest interest and reputation. Had they come so far to be taught
by him, their zeal had been commendable; but to come so far to
oppose him, and to check the progress of his gospel, was great
wickedness. It should seem that the scribes and Pharisees at
Jerusalem pretended not only to a pre-eminence above, but to an
authority over, the country clergy, and therefore kept up their
visitations and sent inquisitors among them, as they did to John
when he appeared, John i.
19.

Now in this passage we may observe,

I. What the tradition of the elders was: by
it all were enjoined to wash their hands before meat; a
cleanly custom, and no harm in it; and yet as such to be over-nice
in it discovers too great a care about the body, which is of the
earth; but they placed religion in it, and would not leave it
indifferent, as it was in its own nature; people were at their
liberty to do it or not to do it; but they interposed their
authority, and commanded all to do it upon pain of excommunication;
this they kept up as a tradition of the elders. The Papists
pretend to a zeal for the authority and antiquity of the church and
its canons, and talk much of councils and fathers, when really it
is nothing but a zeal for their own wealth, interest, and dominion,
that governs them; and so it was with the Pharisees.

We have here an account of the practice of
the Pharisees and all the Jews,v. 3, 4. 1. They washed their hands
oft; they washed them, pygme; the critics find a
great deal of work about that word, some making it to denote the
frequency of their washing (so we render it); others think it
signifies the pains they took in washing their hands; they washed
with great care, they washed their hands to their wrists (so
some); they lifted up their hands when they were wet, that the
water might run to their elbows. 2. They particularly washed
before they ate bread; that is, before they sat down to a
solemn meal; for that was the rule; they must be sure to wash
before they ate the bread on which they begged a blessing.
"Whosoever eats the bread over which they recite the benediction,
Blessed be he that produceth bread, must wash his hands
before and after," or else he was thought to be defiled. 3. They
took special care, when they came in from the markets, to
wash their hands; from the judgment-halls, so some; it
signifies any place of concourse where there were people of all
sorts, and, it might be supposed, some heathen or Jews under a
ceremonial pollution, by coming near to whom they thought
themselves polluted; saying, Stand by thyself, come not near me,
I am holier than thou,Isa. lxv.
5. They say, The rule of the rabbies was—That, if they
washed their hands well in the morning, the first thing they did,
it would serve for all day, provided they kept alone; but, if they
went into company, they must not, at their return, either eat or
pray till they had washed their hands; thus the elders gained a
reputation among the people for sanctity, and thus they exercised
and kept up an authority over their consciences. 4. They added to
this the washing of cups, and pots, and brazen
vessels, which they suspected had been made use of by heathens,
or persons polluted; nay, and the very tables on which they
ate their meat. There were many cases in which, by the law of
Moses, washings were appointed; but they added to them, and
enforced the observation of their own impositions as much as of
God's institutions.

II. What the practice of Christ's disciples
was; they knew what the law was, and the common usage; but they
understood themselves so well that they would not be bound up by
it: they ate bread with defiled, that is, with unwashen,
hands,v. 2.
Eating with unwashen hands they called eating with
defiled hands; thus men keep up their superstitious vanities
by putting every thing into an ill name that contradicts them. The
disciples knew (it is probable) that the Pharisees had their eye
upon them, and yet they would not humour them by a compliance with
their traditions, but took their liberty as at other times, and ate
bread with unwashen hands; and herein their
righteousness, however it might seem to come short, did really
exceed, that of the scribes and Pharisees,Matt. v. 20.

III. The offence which the Pharisees took
at this; They found fault (v. 2); they censured them as profane,
and men of a loose conversation, or rather as men that would not
submit to the power of the church, to decree rites and ceremonies,
and were therefore rebellious, factious, and schismatical. They
brought a complaint against them to their Master, expecting that he
should check them, and order them to conform; for they that are
fond of their own inventions and impositions, are commonly ready to
appeal to Christ, as if he should countenance them, and as if his
authority must interpose for the enforcing of them, and the
rebuking of those that do not comply with them. They do not ask,
Why do not thy disciples do as we do? (Though that was what
they meant, coveting to make themselves the standard.) But, Why do
not they walk according to the tradition of the elders?v. 5. To which it was
easy to answer, that, by receiving the doctrine of Christ, they had
more understanding than all their teachers, yea more than
the ancients,Ps. cxix. 99,
100.

IV. Christ's vindication of them; in
which,

1. He argues with the Pharisees concerning
the authority by which this ceremony was imposed; and they
were the fittest to be discoursed with concerning that, who were
the great sticklers for it: but this he did not speak of publicly
to the multitude (as appears by his calling the people to
him, v. 14) lest he
should have seemed to stir them up to faction and discontent at
their governors; but addressed it as a reproof to the persons
concerned: for the rule is, Suum cuique—Let every one have his
own.

(1.) He reproves them for their hypocrisy
in pretending to honour God, when really they had no such design in
their religious observances (v.
6, 7); They honour me with their lips, they
pretend it is for the glory of God that they impose those things,
to distinguish themselves from the heathen; but really their
heart is far from God, and is governed by nothing but ambition
and covetousness. They would be thought hereby to appropriate
themselves as a holy people to the Lord their God, when really it
is the furthest thing in their thought. They rested in the outside
of all their religious exercises, and their hearts were not right
with God in them, and this was worshipping God in vain; for neither
was he pleased with such sham-devotions, nor were they profited by
them.

(2.) He reproves them for placing religion
in the inventions and injunctions of their elders and rulers; They
taught for doctrines the traditions of men. When they should
have been pressing upon people the great principles of religion,
they were enforcing the canons of their church, and judged of
people's being Jews or no, according as they did, or did not,
conform to them, without any consideration had, whether they lived
in obedience to God's laws or no. It was true, there were divers
washings imposed by the law of Moses (Heb. ix. 10), which were intended to signify
that inward purification of the heart from worldly fleshly lusts,
which God requires as absolutely necessary to our communion with
him; but, instead of providing the substance, they presumptuously
added to the ceremony, and were very nice in washing pots and
cups; and observe, he adds, Many other such like things ye
do,v. 8. Note,
Superstition is an endless thing. If one human invention and
institution be admitted, though seemingly ever so innocent, as this
of washing hands, behold, a troop comes, a door is opened
for many other such things.

(3.) He reproves them for laying aside
the commandment of God, and overlooking that, not urging that
in their preaching, and in their discipline conniving at the
violation of that, as if that were no longer of force, v. 8. Note, It is the mischief
of impositions, that too often they who are zealous for them, have
little zeal for the essential duties of religion, but can
contentedly see them laid aside. Nay, they rejected the
commandment of God,v.
9. He do fairly disannul and abolish the commandment
of God; and even by your traditions make the word of
God of no effect,v.
13. God's statutes shall not only lie forgotten,
as antiquated obsolete laws, but they shall, in effect, stand
repealed, that their traditions may take place. They were
entrusted to expound the law, and to enforce it; and, under
pretence of using that power, they violated the law, and dissolved
the bonds of it; destroying the text with the comment.

This he gives them a particular instance
of, and a flagrant one—God commanded children to honour their
parents, not only by the law of Moses, but, antecedent to that,
by the law of nature; and whoso revileth, or speaketh
evil of, father or mother, let him die the death,v. 10. Hence it is
easy to infer, that it is the duty of children, if their parents be
poor, to relieve them, according to their ability; and if those
children are worthy to die, that curse their parents, much more
those that starve them. But if a man will but conform himself in
all points to the tradition of the elders, they will find him out
an expedient by which he may be discharged from this obligation,
v. 11. If his parents
be in want and he has wherewithal to help them, but has no mind to
do it, let him swear by the Corban, that is, by the gold
of the temple, and the gift upon the altar, that his
parents shall not be profited by him, that he will not relieve
them; and, if they ask any thing of him, let him tell them this,
and it is enough; as if by the obligation of this wicked vow he had
discharged himself from the obligation of God's holy law; thus Dr.
Hammond understands it: and it is said to be an ancient canon of
the rabbin, That vows take place in things commanded by the law, as
well as in things indifferent; so that, if a man make a vow which
cannot be ratified without breaking a commandment, the vow must be
ratified, and the commandment violated; so Dr. Whitby. Such
doctrine as this the Papists teach, discharging children from all
obligation to their parents by their monastic vows, and their
entrance into religion, as they call it. He concludes, Any many
such like things do ye. Where will men stop, when once they
have made the word of God give way to their tradition? These eager
imposers of such ceremonies, at first only made light of
God's commandments in comparison with their traditions, but
afterward made void God's commandments, if they stood in
competition with them. All this, in effect, Isaiah prophesied
of them; what he said of the hypocrites of his own day, was
applicable to the scribes and Pharisees, v. 6. Note, When we see, and complain
of, the wickedness of the present times, yet we do not enquire
wisely of that matter, if we say that all the former days
were better than these,Eccl. vii.
10. The worst of hypocrites and evil doers have had
their predecessors.

2. He instructs the people concerning the
principles upon which this ceremony was grounded. It was requisite
that this part of his discourse should be public, for it related to
daily practice, and was designed to rectify a great mistake which
the people were led into by their elders; he therefore called
the people unto him (v.
14), and bid them hear and understand. Note, It
is not enough for the common people to hear, but they must
understand what they hear. When Christ would run down the
tradition of the Pharisees about washing before meat, he strikes at
the opinion which was the root of it. Note, Corrupt customs are
best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.

Now that which he goes about to set them
right in, is, what the pollution is, which we are in danger of
being damaged by, v.
15. (1.) Not by the meat we eat, though it be
eaten with unwashen hands; that is but from without, and goes
through a man. But, (2.) It is by the breaking out of the
corruption that is in our hearts; the mind and conscience are
defiled, guilt is contracted, and we become odious in the sight of
God by that which comes out of us; our wicked thoughts and
affections, words and actions, these defile us, and these only. Our
care must therefore be, to wash our heart from
wickedness.

3. He gives his disciples, in private, an
explication of the instructions he gave the people. They
asked him, when they had him by himself, concerning the
parable (v. 17);
for to them, it seems, it was a parable. Now, in answer to their
enquiry, (1.) He reproves their dulness; "Are ye so without
understanding also? Are ye dull also, as dull as the
people that cannot understand, as dull as the Pharisees that
will not? Are ye so dull?" He doth not expect they
should understand every thing; "But are ye so weak as not to
understand this?" (2.) He explains this truth to them, that
they might perceive it, and then they would believe
it, for it carried its own evidence along with it. Some truths
prove themselves, if they be but rightly explained and apprehended.
If we understand the spiritual nature of God and of his law, and
what it is that is offensive to him, and disfits us for communion
with him, we shall soon perceive, [1.] That that which we eat and
drink cannot defile us, so as to call for any religious washing; it
goes into the stomach, and passes the several digestions and
secretions that nature has appointed, and what there may be in it
that is defiling is voided and gone; meats for the belly, and
the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and
them. But, [2.] It is that which comes out from the
heart, the corrupt heart, that defiles us. As by the ceremonial
law, whatsoever (almost) comes out of a man, defiles him (Lev. xv. 2; Deut. xxiii. 13),
so what comes out from the mind of a man is that which
defiles him before God, and calls for a religious washing
(v. 21); From
within, out of the heart of men, which they boast of the
goodness of, and think is the best part of them, thence that
which defiles proceeds, thence comes all the mischief. As a corrupt
fountain sends forth corrupt streams, so doth a corrupt heart send
forth corrupt reasonings, corrupt appetites and passions, and all
those wicked words and actions which are produced by them. Divers
particulars are specified, as in Matthew; we had one there, which
is not here, and that is, false witness-bearing; but
seven are mentioned here, to be added to those we had there.
First, Covetousnesses, for it is plural;
pleonexiai—immoderate desires of more of the
wealth of the world, and the gratifications of sense, and still
more, still crying, Give, give. Hence we read of a heart
exercised with covetous practices,2 Pet. ii. 14. Secondly,
Wickedness—poneriai; malice, hatred, and
ill-will, a desire to do mischief, and a delight in mischief done.
Thirdly, Deceit; which is wickedness covered and disguised,
that it may be the more securely and effectually committed.
Fourthly, Lasciviousness; that filthiness and foolish
talking which the apostle condemns; the eye full of adultery, and
all wanton dalliances. Fifthly, The evil eye; the
envious eye, and the covetous eye, grudging others the good we give
them, or do for them (Prov. xxiii.
6), or grieving at the good they do or enjoy.
Sixthly, Pride—hyperephania; exalting
ourselves in our own conceit above others, and looking down with
scorn and contempt upon others. Seventhly,
Foolishness—aphrosyne; imprudence,
inconsideration; some understand it especially of vainglorious
boasting, which St. Paul calls foolishness (2 Cor. xi. 1, 19), because it is
here joined with pride; I rather take it for that rashness
in speaking and acting, which is the cause of so much evil.
Ill-thinking is put first, as that which is the spring of
all our commissions, and unthinking put last, as that
which is the spring of all our omissions. Of all these he
concludes (v. 23), 1.
That they come from within, from the corrupt nature, the
carnal mind, the evil treasure in the heart; justly is it said,
that the inward part is very wickedness, it must needs be
so, when all this comes from within. 2. That they defile the
man; they render a man unfit for communion with God, they bring
a stain upon the conscience; and, if not mortified and rooted out,
will shut men out of the new Jerusalem, into which no unclean
thing shall enter.

The Syrophenician Woman.

24 And from thence he arose, and went into the
borders of Tyre and Sidon, and entered into a house, and would have
no man know it: but he could not be hid. 25 For a
certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit,
heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: 26 The woman
was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that
he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. 27 But
Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is
not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto
the dogs. 28 And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord:
yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs.
29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is
gone out of thy daughter. 30 And when she was come to her
house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the
bed.

See here, I. How humbly Christ was
pleased to conceal himself. Never man was so cried up as he
was in Galilee, and therefore, to teach us, though not to decline
any opportunity of doing good, yet not to be fond of popular
applause, he arose from thence, and went into the borders of
Tyre and Sidon, where he was little known; and there he entered,
not into a synagogue, or place of concourse, but into a
private house, and he would have no man to know it;
because it was foretold concerning him, He shall not strive nor
cry, neither shall his voice be heard in the streets. Not but
that he was willing to preach and heal here as well as in other
places, but for this he would be sought unto. Note, As there is a
time to appear, so there is a time to retire. Or, he
would not be known, because he was upon the borders of Tyre and
Sidon, among Gentiles, to whom he would not be so forward to show
himself as to the tribes of Israel, whose glory he was to be.

II. How graciously he was pleased to
manifest himself, notwithstanding. Though he would not carry
a harvest of miraculous cures into those parts, yet, it should
seem, he came on purpose to drop a handful, to let fall this one
which we have here an account of. He could not be hid; for,
though a candle may be put under a bushel, the sun cannot. Christ
was too well known to be long incognito—hid, any where; the
oil of gladness which he was anointed with, like ointment of the
right hand, would betray itself, and fill the house with its
odours. Those that had only heard his fame, could not converse with
him, but they would soon say, "This must be Jesus." Now
observe,

1. The application made to him by a poor
woman in distress and trouble. She was a Gentile, a Greek, a
stranger to the commonwealth of Israel, an alien to the covenant of
promise; she was by extraction a Syrophenician, and not in any
degree proselyted to the Jewish religion; she had a
daughter, a young daughter, that was possessed
with the devil. How many and grievous are the calamities
that young children are subject to! Her address was, (1.) Very
humble, pressing, and importunate; She heard of him, and
came, and fell at his feet. Note, Those that would obtain
mercy from Christ, must throw themselves at his feet; must refer
themselves to him, humble themselves before him, and give up
themselves to be ruled by him. Christ never put any from him, that
fell at his feet, which a poor trembling soul may do, that has not
boldness and confidence to throw itself into his arms. (2.) It was
very particular; she tells him what she wanted. Christ gave poor
supplicants leave to be thus free with him; she besought him that
he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter,v. 26. Note, The greatest
blessing we can ask of Christ for our children is, that he would
break the power of Satan, that is, the power of sin, in their
souls; and particularly, that he would cast forth the unclean
spirit, that they may be temples of the Holy Ghost, and he may
dwell in them.

2. The discouragement he gave to this
address (v. 27); He
said unto her, "Let the children first be filled; let the
Jews have all the miracles wrought for them, that they have
occasion for, who are in a particular manner God's chosen people;
and let not that which was intended for them, be thrown to those
who are not of God's family, and who have not that knowledge of
him, and interest in him, which they have, and who are as dogs
in comparison of them, vile and profane, and who are as dogs
to them, snarling at them, spiteful toward them, and ready to
worry them." Note, Where Christ knows the faith of poor supplicants
to be strong, he sometimes delights to try it, and put it to the
stretch. But his saying, Let the children first be filled,
intimates that there was mercy in reserve for the Gentiles, and not
far off; for the Jews began already to be surfeited with the gospel
of Christ, and some of them had desired him to depart out of
their coasts. The children begin to play with their meat, and
their leavings, their loathings, would be a feast for the Gentiles.
The apostles went by this rule, Let the children first be
filled, let the Jews have the first offer; and if their full
souls loathe this honeycomb, Lo, we turn to the
Gentiles!

3. The turn she gave to this word of
Christ, which made against her, and her improvement of it, to make
for her, v. 28. She
said, "Yes, Lord, I own it is true that the children's
bread ought not to be cast to the dogs; but they were never
denied the crumbs of that bread, nay it belongs to them, and
they are allowed a place under the table, that they may be
ready to receive them. I ask not for a loaf, no, nor for a
morsel, only for a crumb; do not refuse me that."
This she speaks, not as undervaluing the mercy, or making light of
it in itself, but magnifying the abundance or miraculous cures with
which she heard the Jews were feasted, in comparison with which a
single cure was but as a crumb. Gentiles do not come in crowds, as
the Jews do; I come alone. Perhaps she had heard of Christ's
feeding five thousand lately at once, after which, even when they
had gathered up the fragments, there could not but be some crumbs
left for the dogs.

4. The grant Christ thereupon made of her
request. Is she thus humble, thus earnest? For this saying, Go
thy way, thou shalt have what thou camest for, the devil is
gone out of thy daughter,v.
29. This encourages us to pray and not to
faint, to continue instant in prayer, not doubting but to
prevail at last; the vision at the end shall speak, and not
lie. Christ's saying that is was done, did it
effectually, as at other times his saying, Let it be done;
for (v. 30) she
came to her house, depending upon the word of Christ, that
her daughter was healed, and so she found it, the devil
was gone out. Note, Christ can conquer Satan at a distance; and
it was not only when the demoniacs saw him, that they
yielded to his power (as ch.
iii. 11), but when they saw him not, for the Spirit of
the Lord is not bound, nor bounded. She found her
daughter not in any toss or agitation, but very quietly laid on
the bed, and reposing herself; waiting for her mother's return,
to rejoice with her, that she was so finely well.

The Cure of a Deaf and Dumb
Person.

31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre
and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of
the coasts of Decapolis. 32 And they bring unto him one that
was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him
to put his hand upon him. 33 And he took him aside from the
multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and
touched his tongue; 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed,
and saith unto him, Ephphatha, that is, Be opened. 35 And
straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was
loosed, and he spake plain. 36 And he charged them that they
should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more
a great deal they published it; 37 And were beyond
measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh
both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Our Lord Jesus seldom staid long in a
place, for he knew where his work lay, and attended the changes of
it. When he had cured the woman of Canaan's daughter, he had done
what he had to do in that place, and therefore presently left those
parts, and returned to the sea of Galilee, whereabout his
usual residence was; yet he did not come directly thither, but
fetched a compass through the midst of the coasts of
Decapolis, which lay mostly on the other side Jordan; such long
walks did our Lord Jesus take, when he went about doing
good.

Now here we have the story of a cure that
Christ wrought, which is not recorded by any other of the
evangelists; it is of one that was deaf and dumb.

I. His case was sad, v. 32. There were those that brought to
him one that was deaf; some think, born deaf, and then he
must be dumb of course; others think that by some distemper or
disaster he was become deaf, or, at least, thick of hearing; and he
had an impediment in his speech. He was
mogilalos; some think that he was quite dumb; others,
that he could not speak but with great difficulty to himself, and
so as scarcely to be understood by those that heard him. He was
tongue-tied, so that he was perfectly unfit for
conversation, and deprived both of the pleasure and of the profit
of it; he had not the satisfaction either of hearing other people
talk, or of telling his own mind. Let us take occasion from hence
to give thanks to God for preserving to us the sense of hearing,
especially that we may be capable of hearing the word of God; and
the faculty of speech, especially that we may be capable of
speaking God's praises; and let us look with compassion upon those
that are deaf or dumb, and treat them with great tenderness. They
that brought this poor man to Christ, besought him that he would
put his hand upon him, as the prophets did upon those whom
they blessed in the name of the Lord. It is not said, They
besought him to cure him, but to put his hand upon
him, to take cognizance of his case, and put forth his power to
do to him as he pleased.

II. His cure was solemn, and some of the
circumstances of it were singular.

1. Christ took him aside from the
multitude,v. 33.
Ordinarily, he wrought his miracles publicly before all the people,
to show that they would bear the strictest scrutiny and inspection;
but this he did privately, to show that he did not seek his own
glory, and to teach us to avoid every thing that savours of
ostentation. Let us learn of Christ to be humble, and to do good
where no eye sees, but his that is all eye.

2. He used more significant actions, in the
doing of this cure, than usual. (1.) He put his fingers into his
ears, as if he would syringe them, and fetch out that
which stopped them up. (2.) He spit upon his own finger, and then
touched his tongue, as if he would moisten his mouth, and so
loosen that with which his tongue was tied; these were no causes
that could in the least contribute to his cure, but only signs of
the exerting of that power which Christ had in himself to cure him,
for the encouraging of his faith, and theirs that brought him. The
application was all from himself, it was his own fingers
that he put into his ears, and his own spittle that he put
upon his tongue; for he alone heals.

3. He looked up to heaven, to give
his Father the praise of what he did; for he sought his praise, and
did his will, and, as Mediator, acted in dependence on him, and
with an eye to him. Thus he signified that it was by a divine
power, a power her had as the Lord from heaven, and brought with
him thence, that he did this; for the hearing ear and the
seeing eye the Lord has made, and can remake even
both of them. He also hereby directed his patient who could
see, though he could not hear, to look up to heaven
for relief. Moses with his stammering tongue is directed to look
that way (Exod. iv. 11);
Who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb or deaf, or
the seeing or the blind? Have not I the Lord?

4. He sighed; not as if he found any
difficulty in working this miracle, or obtaining power to do it
from his father; but thus he expressed his pity for the miseries of
human life, and his sympathy with the afflicted in their
afflictions, as one that was himself touched with the feeling of
their infirmities. And as to this man, he sighed, not
because he was loth to do him this kindness, or did it with
reluctancy; but because of the many temptations which he would be
exposed to, and the sins he would be in danger of, the tongue-sins,
after the restoring of his speech to him, which before he was free
from. He had better be tongue-tied still, unless he have
grace to keep his mouth as with a bridle,Ps. xxxix. 1.

5. He said, Ephphatha; that is,
Be opened. This was nothing that looked like spell or
charm, such as they used, who had familiar spirits,
who peeped and muttered,Isa.
viii. 19. Christ speaks as one having authority, and
power went along with the word. Be opened, served both parts
of the cure; "Let the ears be opened, let the
lips be opened, let him hear and speak freely, and
let the restraint be taken off;" and the effect was answerable
(v. 35);
Straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue
was loosed, and all was well: and happy he who, as soon as he
had his hearing and speech, had the blessed Jesus so near him to
converse with.

Now this cure was, (1.) A proof of Christ's
being the Messiah; for it was foretold that by his power the
ears of the deaf should be unstopped, and the tongue of
the dumb should be made to sing,Isa. xxxv. 5, 6. (2.) It was a specimen of
the operations of his gospel upon the minds of men. The great
command of the gospel, and grace of Christ to poor sinners, is
Ephphatha-Be opened. Grotius applies it thus, that the
internal impediments of the mind are removed by the Spirit of
Christ, as those bodily impediments were by the word of his power.
He opens the heart, as he did Lydia's, and thereby opens the
ear to receive the word of God, and opens the mouth in prayer and
praises.

6. He ordered it to be kept very private,
but it was made very public (1.) It was his humility, that he
charged them they should tell no man,v. 36. Most men will proclaim their own
goodness, or, at least, desire that others should proclaim it; but
Christ, though he was himself in no danger of being puffed up with
it, knowing that we are, would thus set us an example of
self-denial, as in other things, so especially in praise and
applause. We should take pleasure in doing good, but not in its
being known. (2.) It was their zeal, that, though he charged them
to say nothing of it, yet they published it, before Christ would
have had it published. But they meant honestly, and therefore it is
to be reckoned rather an act of indiscretion than an act of
disobedience, v. 36.
But they that told it, and they that heard it, were beyond
measure astonished,hyperperissos—more than
above measure; they were exceedingly affected with it, and this
was said by every body, it was the common verdict, He hath done
all things well (v.
37); whereas there were those that hated and persecuted
him as an evil-doer, they are ready to witness for him, not
only that he has done no evil, but that he has done a great deal of
good, and has done it well, modestly and humbly, and very devoutly,
and all gratis, without money and without price, which added
much to the lustre of his good works. He maketh both the deaf to
hear, and the dumb to speak; and that is well, it is
well for them, it is well for their relations, to whom they had
been a burthen; and therefore they are inexcusable who speak
ill of him.